In its own way the kiss had been an act of murder.

I stood up. It was all too much. I could not even meet my own expectations, and to be asked to deal with all theirs too was suffocating.

Mutilated corpses with a chance of afternoon showers. I got dressed and went to work.

It's always me, isn't it? I'm not really a very nice person, but for some reason it's always me that they come to with their problems.

And I was having too much fun to stop now.

It was always hard work to push through a crowed of reporters with the scent of blood in their nostrils. You might not think so, since on camera they appear to be brain-damaged wimps with severe eating disorders. But put them at a police barricade and a miraculous thing happens...The strength comes from some mysterious place-and somehow, when there is gore on the ground, these anorexic creatures can push their way through anything. Without mussing their hair, too.

But what could I do? Be stupid for a while? I wasn't sure I knew how, even after so many years of careful observation.